1. Field of the Invention
Inspection systems, in which the persons or objects to be inspected are x-rayed or irradiated in screening devices by electromagnetic rays, are used for inspecting persons and objects, such as luggage, for hazardous materials, such as blasting materials or explosives. Such inspection systems are used at airports for inspecting passengers and luggage.
2. Description of the Background Art
The inspection systems according to a known embodiment contain screening devices in which the objects to be inspected, for example, luggage, are x-rayed or irradiated by x-rays and the transmitted or scattered x-rays are detected and analyzed (DE 10125531-A, DE 19954662-A).
Screening devices are known for inspecting persons, in which the persons to be inspected are irradiated with electromagnetic mm waves and the scattered mm waves are analyzed to obtain an image (DE 102005016106-A).
The screening devices must be tested and validated before being placed into operation. This typically occurs with real hazardous materials, therefore the explosives to be detected. The use of explosives is regulated by law, and moreover they are difficult to handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,299 discloses an explosive simulation mixture, which contains non-explosive components, whereby the components are selected so that the mixture has a physical form, density, x-ray transmission, and an effective atomic number that corresponds to a selected explosive mixture. An x-ray screening device can be tested for the detection of the specific explosive with the use of the simulation mixture instead of a real explosive. Solid, plastic, and gel-like compositions, which are made up of different components, are described as simulation mixtures.
Inspection systems are also increasingly required to detect liquid explosives and so-called “home-made explosives” as well.